30th January 2006 Archive

Of course, you know this anyway. But just for the benefit of any long-term residents of Planet Amnesia, Apache is the software that powers most servers on the web - including, naturally, El Reg. And in December, Apache marked its tenth birthday with its first major new release in a little over three and a half years.

Just as the US mobile carriers are turning in storming performances, Vodafone is under unprecedented pressure to dump its 45 per cent stake in Verizon Wireless. Arun Sarin, defending his own CEOship in the face of mounting shareholder criticism, claims this would be the wrong time to get out of Verizon, since there would be greater shareholder value to be derived from waiting – perhaps a very long time. But two of the operator’s top six shareholders have gone public with criticisms of the current strategy and a call to explore an exit from Verizon Wireless, a move that could generate £25-30bn.

The test is a disaster for the IEEE and 802.11n. The good news is that the new Wi-Fi MIMO technology really does reach throughput speeds of 100Mbps. The bad news: it utterly crushed a neighbouring network that used standard 802.11g.

Traditionally organisations have "bought" the software they use, although the range of licensing options available can be enough to confuse anyone. However, on both sides of the IT world (vendor and customer), surprisingly little attention has been given to acquiring the right to use software on a "subscription" basis rather than on perpetual use licenses. But this may be about to change.

Almost a third of UK organisations feel under pressure to take some of their business offshore to cut costs and tackle skill shortages, according to a new survey from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).

When it comes to RFID, is MP Andy Burnham lying or drowning? If it's lying, then in principle the Home Office Minister is no more lying than other people are - the US Department of Homeland Security, the EU's Justice & Home Affairs Committee and impressive numbers of RFID, sorry, contactless, proximity chip vendors. But if he's not, the drowning act is pretty convincing.

Last Friday saw the premiere of Roving Mars, an IMAX spectacular created from material recorded by NASA's Spirit and Opportunity rovers on the Red Planet. The rovers' principal scientific investigator Steven Squyres, who also narrates some of the film, told Reuters: "I've kind of had this picture of what Mars really looks like in my head for all this time, and for the first time on that IMAX screen, what I saw with my eyes matched my impressions of what it should really look like."

Dutch TV programme Nieuwslicht (Newslight) is claiming that the security of the Dutch biometric passport has already been cracked. As the programme reports here, the passport was read remotely and then the security cracked using flaws built into the system, whereupon all of the biometric data could be read.

A Connecticut man was jailed for two years on Friday (27 January) after pleading guilty to offering stolen copies of Windows' source code for sale online. William Genovese, 29, of Meriden, Connecticut, pleading guilty in August 2005 to trade secret offences over his attempts to sell purloined copies of the software blueprints for Windows 2000 and Windows NT 4.

Sony has apologised for problems some users have experienced with its Connect Player utility when the jukebox software is used with the firm's NW-A1000, NW-A3000 and NW-A608 digital music players, launched last November.

Don't want to carry your iPod Nano in a pocket or around your neck? Then how about carrying it on your head? Accessory maker MacAlly has announced a set of cordless headphones that incorporate their own iPod Nano dock.

Time Warner (TW) is embracing peer-to-peer technology to distribute films and other media in Germany. Despite leading the digital rights charge against Napster, the firm can now see the benefits of the technology.

Fujifilm's FinePix S9500 Zoom is a nine megapixel all-in-one 'bridge' camera with a long 10.7x optical zoom lens and SLR-like styling. With its design and features, Fujifilm is clearly targeting buyers of budget digital SLRs, quoting LCD-based composition, a tilting monitor, movie mode and no concerns over dust getting on the sensor as key advantages. It's also comfortably cheaper than most budget digital SLRs...

Research in Motion (RIM) has prevailed in a patent infringement legal battle in Germany, the company said today. Like its better-known fight with US intellectual property holding company NTP, RIM's tussle with Luxembourg-based InPro centres on allegations that it used, without permission, technology patented by InPro.

Microsoft will omit anti-virus protection in Vista, the next version of Windows, which it plans to ship late this year. As with previous versions of Windows dating back to Windows 2000 at least, Redmond is promoting Vista as a landmark improvement in Windows security.

Manchester telco Your Communications has laudably decided to become a carbon neutral outfit by handing out 25,000 bags into which customers and employees can pop their old mobile handsets for recycling.

A cavalcade of the Itanium processor's biggest supporters gathered last week at a fundraiser for the struggling processor. At stake is the processor's very existence, and the vendors vowed not to let their warm, large friend die before meeting its full potential.